SEMICONDUCTORS

PN DIODE

When a positive voltage is applied between the anode and cathode, current will flow through the diode, provided the voltage is greater than "a diode drop" which, for standard pn diodes, is usually around 0.7V. As the forward current I_F increases, the voltage drop V_F will also increase. However, most of the voltage drop is the initial 0.7V drop which occurs when any amount of current flows through the diode. If a negative voltage is applied across the pn junction (anode to cathode), the device exhibits very high resistance to current flow, and the small amount of current that does conduct is called the leakage current I_RM. When a diode is conducting in the forward direction and is asked to block in the reverse direction, it "forgets" it is a diode for a period of time and allows current to conduct. After this short period of time, called the reverse recovery time, or t_rr, the diode "remembers" it is a diode and begins blocking current. However, during this recovery time, a large current conducts through the diode, called reverse recovery current, or I_rr. The shape of the waveforms during this period are critical to the operation of the rest of the circuit. As temperature increases, the forward voltage decreases, while the reverse recovery current and charge increase.

SCHOTTKY DIODE
the Schottky diode's lack of reverse recovery, making it ideal for high frequency applications. The barrier metal also is responsible for the Schottky diode's low forward voltage drop, making it ideal for use in low voltage systems. Of course, the tradeoff is the reverse leakage current, which is many times that seen in pn-junction diodes. In some applications, and especially during burn-in, this leakage current may cause the device to exceed its rated junction temperature. It needs to be included in any junction temperature calculations. As temperature increases, the forward drop decreases, while the reverse leakage current greatly increases

SCR
The SCR (silicon controlled rectifier), or thyristor, is one of the original high power semiconductor switching technologies. It is a latching device; once it is turned on, or "fired," it remains on until the current is removed. For this reason, its primary application is phase-control of ac signals. Figure 16 shows that by controlling where on the cycle the SCR is turned on, the output power level is controlled. SCRs designed for these line frequency (50-60 Hz) applications are called phase control SCRs.

Figure 16. Phase Control of ac Waveform

The second family of SCRs is the inverter type. These are used in pulsed power applications involving higher frequencies. The main difference between the two families is the turn-off time (tq). A device's tq is measured as the time required for the device to be in the "off" state before voltage is reapplied. Inverter SCRs typically have a tq of less than 30 microseconds (ms). Similar phase control SCRs have tq ratings of several hundred ms. Like with the pn diode, as the temperature increases, the voltage drop decreases. Perhaps more importantly, as temperature increases, the current required to fire the SCR decreases. At low temperatures, the gate triggering circuitry must supply enough current to ensure the device fires, while at high temperatures, the SCR is susceptible to spurious firing due to noise. The device's gate triggering circuitry must ensure this does not happen.

MOSFET
Current flows from the source metallization down through the device, and out through the drain contact. The MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) is used primarily in medium-power circuits where switching speed is critical. This power device is extremely easy to drive as it requires voltage, not current on the gate. And due to its wide acceptance, the MOSFET market is growing at a rapid pace. It is important to select the proper voltage MOSFET as the RDS(on) increases exponentially with increasing breakdown voltage. Also, as the device heats up due to power dissipation, its RDS(on)increases. Thus, in most applications, the 25 degC RDS(on) rating is not accurate. The actual RDS(on)rating could be twice as high. This is not always a negative attribute. It's what allows power MOSFETs to easily be used in parallel.

IGBT
The IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) represents the union of a power MOSFET and a power bipolar (BJT) transistor, incorporating the best features of each. But while the MOSFET can be used in applications exceeding 1 MHz, the fastest IGBTs are limited to only a fraction of that. Therefore, the only real drawback of the IGBT is its switching speed. Yet the conduction characteristics of the IGBT really outshine those of the power MOSFET, especially at voltages greater than about 200V. If you have a midfrequency, high voltage design, look at IGBTs. Increasing the operating temperature of an IGBT causes its switching losses to increase substantially, thus decreasing the maximum operating frequency. The conduction voltage of IGBTs is not strongly affected by temperature, and can even decrease with temperature at certain current densities. This causes concern for designers with regards to the IGBT's parallelibility. Still, IR believes that by following a few simple guidelines, IGBTs can be successfully paralleled. (See Design Tip 94-6 for more information on parallel operation of IGBTs.)